back to asia...

So I'm back in Asia... I landed in Bangkok late Tuesday night and have been gently adjusting since then. Bangkok is pretty much as crazy, immense and hectic as I remember it. There's a zillion people - and they're out late each and every night - eating, partying, bargaining, etc... Traffic remains as bad as anywhere I've ever seen, but at least the public transportation system works pretty well. The food - and especially the street food - has been pretty good. I've definitely enjoyed a bunch of soups and curries though half the time I couldn't tell you exactly what I'm eating.

I ended up walking about eight miles through town on Thursday which was rather exhausting - there really isn't much in the way of green areas aside from a couple large parks. I hit the Chinatown street market which is a network of passageways with all sorts of vendors cramped into the tiny alleys. Definitely not for the claustrophobic. I also stumbled into a rally being held by the red shirts - the opposition party, though it all seemed rather tame and peaceful. Along the way, I had a plate of chicken rice from a street vendor that wasn't half bad. It's quite literally just boiled chicken and rice, but it tastes so much better than it sounds. The rice was perfectly cooked, and the chicken is boiled to perfection in chicken broth. Then you top the whole thing with any number of Thai condiments that accompany meals.

Now I'm in Chiang Mai with Lan, Nate and Lisa and we've been enjoying the laid back atmosphere and cooler mountain weather. Lot's of street food has been consumed, with everything from pad thai to random grilled meat products. Saturday we spent a majority of the day at an Elephant park, riding and feeding the giant animals and laughing quite a bit along the way. We ended the day visiting a tiger petting zoo (seriously...) and the temple atop Doi Suthep, the peak which overlooks the city. It's one of the nicer temples I've been to, and I really enjoyed revisiting it.

In store today is a lot of food and relaxation, then off to Phuket tomorrow for well... more food and relaxation. It's a tough life. Pictures below are mostly from Chiang Mai, nothing from Bangkok yet...